adaptation in normal school

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I wasn't sure which area this topic should go in, but I think this one's the best. I'm doing a research paper on how adolescent aspies deal with teenage life (in a NORMAL high schoool) and I was wondering if you guys could post some experiences here. thanks guys, this place rocks!

Not anything useful, I'm afraid, my school life was generally idealist. However, you can say that we are generally happier wherever we are when people accept us and don't 'punish' us for it.

I go to a regular high school.

It's hard for me, but I deal with it because I know if I do I can go home and do what I love to do. Homework is my only actual problem in school, especially English homework because its always about answering questions like: how did this person feel? or if you were this person, how would you feel? I don't like being in large groups, but my group of friends keeps adding everyday, and some don't get along, and may even fight. This is hard for me because my better friends are in this group, and in order for me to get away from the people I don't like, I have to ditch my real friends. Now-a-days I spend my lunch hours in my tutorial room (where I do my homework, or rather, where I should be doing my homework). I don't "spaz" out, but rather I bottle up my emotions only to have them build until I have a mental break down.

All-in-all High school hasn't been a very good experience.

As for Home life, the only stress I encounter is having to do chores. My parents always ask me to do work when I'm just getting into something, and I can't play any video games where I can't pause or I'll end up getting in trouble. The worst part is the yelling, its like daggers in my ears :O

Although my Home life is much better than school.

hell. been driven mad several times, nearly killed someone in a fit of rage, all-in-all, pretty damn bad. im basicly the schools ass.

i was thinking a bit more in terms of teenage social life, but this is pretty good too.

I do attend a "normal" public high school (though it is one in a rather wealthy area in my state, so drugs or fights or whatnot? Yeah, not so much). My grades are generally good for the challenging, difficult courses I choose (A's and B's, mostly, out of a courseload with three AP courses and two honors classes) and my only real issue is with teachers who don't teach enough theory (I get frustrated when, say, an AP Language teacher assigns a project dealing with drawing six key scenes from a book, as if I were in elementary school). I also don't deal with homework well. I'm usually too tired when I come home to focus well on it or want to and generally do it in the period before (not that this is unusual at my school). I seem to be somewhat unusual in that I'm a fairly left-brain person who prefers history, literature and Latin over math and science (though my chosen schedule is about even in terms of division between them).

Socially... well, I participate in a few academic clubs, most of which don't meet too often (mostly Library Geeks and Latin Club). I tutor three days a week after school. I'm a pretty strong Latin geek and in fact tomorrow morning I'll be going off to a Junior Classical League convention for the weekend. I have a few friends here but don't do too much out of school, which for the time being is the way I like it. I'm waiting for college to be more social and outgoing, although I am trying to stretch out some this year. I also volunteer at a small hippotherapy stable on my weekends, which interestingly enough has several kids with HFA as patients. Interacting with them helps me understand some things about myself, but I'm not terribly good at it--I don't demand eye contact the way I should, for one thing. Mostly I work as a sort of all-purpose stable hand there, anyway; I groom, muck stalls, clean the ring, side-walk, lead occasionally, and basically do whatever needs doing. I enjoy it very much there. I really don't have much of a social life with my peers at the moment, which I'm not terribly concerned about. I do have several people I'm friendly with in my classes, and at the moment that and my IMing friendship with my much closer friends from the town I used to live in sustain me there.

My home life is generally okay. The only real problems I have there are occasional stress-induced breakdowns and my parents' insistance I try an epidemiology contest that I really have no interest at all in and which terrifies me completely. I'm basically avoiding it, since if I ignore it long enough it will go away. College is also a fear for me--I hope to attend Davidson College, but price is a big factor in where I go.

I go to a nice Catholic High School, but I still have some social problems.
I honestly just don't fit in anywhere. I don't fit in with the goth, artsy, smart, dumb, ditzy, crass, and or nerdy.

I am also have the feeling that everyone thinks that I am a ret*d and it kind of gets depressing.

my schools were crap-it was a terrible time and I dropped out because of it

The school I go to now sucks, too. Whenever people pick on me, the teachers let it happen! Frankly, I'm so darn SICK OF IT!

However, soon I will be going to a school that doesn't let that stuff happen (I hope).

I was mainstreamed in year 7 and I HATED it! I couldn't deal with the work and the classroom, plus later evryone picked on me, and I got yelled at for "letting them win" (Yes I LET them, with there only being 1 of me and like 50 of them!)

Normal school ruined my confidence and self esteem, but I've recovered from most of it.

High school was horriable for me, I broke a teachers nose during my first year, had basically no friends until year 10. Got groped by boys all the way through school, and got average GCSE results.
It was not good for my confidence.
I did attend a school for a short while which had mainly pupils with physical disabilities, dyslexia, social phobia and aspergers etc. So it was not like a typical special school, as many people got very good exam results and hopefully are all doing very well in a scary NT's world.
Most people do not like school anyway

Regular mainstream highschool has been somewhat of a challenge (though not nearly as bad as it could be). Middle school was much worse, before i knew how to better handle my differences.

My school has about 2500 students, mostly christian (im atheist), african american (and heavly imersed in the corresponding culture) and mainstream (love the new "in" thing, popular item, etc). Needless to say, I'm very different from them. I don't like rap/hiphop and hate the fashions. They call me oreo....

I'm basically with the extreme oucasts of the school. The "gays", weirdos, slow kids. Most of my friends are odd in some way, dress weird, talk weird, are aspies as well(suspect). Because of this, the things i let slip are not as noticable. I'm "just as weird" as the others. Amoung my friends, strange behaviours aren't noticed too often. I haven't told anyone that I'm an aspie and neither have any of my other friends who i suspect are too. It's just not talked about in my school. ignorance about autism is so wide spread that if i even tried to explain no one would get it and they'd probably say im wrong or "using an excuse".

My AS doesn't really show. I copy the other kids, do my best to stop any stims, laugh automatically at jokes, don't talk unless im sure, fake interest, and generally don't let anyone know i'm too different (outside of the differences listed above that, while not really acceptable, are certainly better recieved than AS would be). I keep everything inside until I'm able relax.

Which is why i require that my after school time (at home where it's quiet) is not interrupted. It's when i can relax, calm down, reflect on the day, be alone and stim to my hearts content. If i didn't have that i don't know how i'd be able to handle things.


Though I have these problems (and more i haven't mentioned) i don't consider my highschool life to be terrible. There are others with way worse situations and highschool is nothing compared to middle/elementary(for me anyway).